Caitlin Clark last played in a basketball game in July for the Indiana Fever.
The point guard’s idle spell will end at the FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament with USA Basketball in San Juan, Puerto Rico this week. Team USA is scheduled to play five games beginning March 11 against Senegal.
“It’ll probably take me a second to knock a little bit of the rust off,” Clark said over Zoom from USA Basketball camp in Miami. “I’ll probably be a little bit nervous, which I usually don’t get nervous, but that probably just will come from, you know, I haven’t really played basketball in a while. I’m sure after the first minute of running around on the court, I’ll be just fine. But more than anything, just really excited.”
Clark injured her right groin against the Connecticut Sun in Boston last July, three days before the WNBA All-Star break. She never made it back as the Fever advanced all the way to the WNBA semifinals with her cheering from the bench.
Limited to 13 games in 2025, Clark suffered a quad injury in training camp, a separate strain in the same quad a week into the season before straining her left groin in June and her right groin in July. She sprained her ankle in August while rehabbing from the groin injury.
Clark spent the early offseason rehabbing the groin and ankle injuries, and said at USA Basketball’s camp in December that she was 100% healthy. But she hasn’t had an opportunity to play 5-on-5 against an opponent, only in practice.
“It’s definitely been a while since I played a game,” Clark said. “Obviously, I played in the camp we had in December, and then doing everything I can to simulate as much live play in training and pick up and things like that. But nothing quite emulates this type of environment.”
After eight months, Clark will be back on the court. And she feels better than ever.
“I know how much work and how much time I put in to make sure my body’s as healthy as it can be, and to get back not only to a point where I feel like I’m myself, but I feel like I’m even better than where I was at the beginning of last season,” Clark said. “I started off the season really well before I was hurt, and tried to play through being hurt. So more than anything, just excited to be out there, to be surrounded by a lot of really good players.”